“Sostegni-bis” Decree – Decree Law No 73 of 25 May 2021 converted into law

 

 

Foreword

 

The Sostegni-bis Decree (DL 73/2021) has completed its approval process in the Senate and has been converted into Law no. 106 of 23 July 2021 and published in the Official Gazette.

During the parliamentary process, the Sostegni-bis Decree, already analysed in our Newsletter no. 2 of May 2021, to which we refer you, has been enriched with new tax provisions.

As far as we are interested, we report in this document the relevant measures for tax purposes and, in general, the measures relevant to investments and financial support for companies.

 

We refer to our Infoflash no. 1 for specific details on tax credits for the purchase of personal protective equipment and for the sanitation of environments.

 

New features for grants

 

Firstly, it is envisaged that entities with revenues deriving from specific activities involving the sale of goods and the provision of services in excess of € 10 million and not exceeding € 15 million may also access the contributions in question. In particular, they are entitled to the Lost Fund Contribution already provided for by the Support Decree (in Article 1 DL 41/2021), calculated by applying 20% to the difference between the average monthly amount of turnover and fees in 2020 and the average monthly amount of turnover and fees in 2019.

Secondly, subsidies have been provided for specific categories of economic entities, such as VAT holders engaged in business, art or profession, holders of agrarian income, non-commercial entities and non-profit organisations, sports associations and clubs registered with CONI, companies operating in the wedding, entertainment, party and ceremony organisation and in the Hotellerie-Restaurant-Catering (HORECA) sectors and for small breweries.

 

New tax credits

 

With the conversion into law of the Sostegni-bis Decree a new Article 48-bis was introduced, which provides for a tax credit for companies incurring expenses for high-level professional training activities incurred in the tax period following the one in progress on 31 December 2020 (i.e. 2021 for “solar” subjects).

The tax credit is equal to 25% of the expenses, up to an overall limit of €5 million for 2021, and is available to all companies, regardless of their legal form, company size and the economic sector in which they operate.

Expenditure incurred, up to a maximum amount of €30,000 for each beneficiary enterprise, on the company cost for the employee for the period he/she is engaged in training activities is eligible:

• through specialisation and advanced training courses lasting no less than six months, held in Italy or abroad;
• in areas related to the development of new technologies and the deepening of knowledge of the technologies provided for in the national ‘Industry 4.0’ plan.

This tax credit does not contribute to the IRES and IRAP taxable base, and can only be used by offsetting with the F24 form (without applying the limits on offsetting). The implementing provisions will be defined by a specific decree.

Still on the subject of training, article 60-bis grants a tax credit to companies that financially support, through donations made in the year 2021 or in the year 2022, in the form of scholarships, training initiatives aimed at developing and acquiring managerial skills, promoted by public and private universities, advanced training institutes or public and private managerial training schools.

The tax credit is recognised up to 100% for small and micro enterprises, up to 90% for medium-sized enterprises and up to 80% for large enterprises of the amount of the donations made, up to a maximum amount of €100,000, and can only be used by offsetting in the F24 form.

In this case too, the implementing provisions, in compliance with State aid rules, will be defined by a subsequent decree.

 

Lastly, articles 67 and 67-bis provide for two types of tax credit linked to expenditure incurred for advertising. In particular, for the years 2021 and 2022, a tax credit of 50% of the value of expenditure on advertising investments in daily newspapers and periodicals, including in digital format, up to a maximum limit of €65 million for each year, is provided. For the year 2021, the electronic communication to access the credit must be submitted from 1.9.2021 to 30.9.2021.

A new tax credit is also provided for the payment of the property fee for the concession, authorisation or advertising display referred to in Article 1, paragraphs 816 et seq. of Law No. 160/2019, granted to the owners of advertising installations, either private or granted to private entities, intended for the display of posters and similar advertising installations of a commercial nature, including through luminous panels or projection of images, in any case other than business signs. The credit is granted in proportion to the amount owed by the above-mentioned entities, in 2021, as a capital fee for the concession, authorisation or advertising display for the dissemination of advertising messages for a period not exceeding six months and within the overall spending limit of €20 million. The implementation modalities will be defined by a subsequent provision of the Revenue Agency.

 

 

New extension of the suspension of collection activities

 

With the amendment already approved on 8 July, the Budget Committee of the Chamber of Deputies changed the deadlines for payments relating to certain tax amnesty institutes, and the deadlines for the payment of instalments for the facilitated definition of loads entrusted to the collection agent have been redefined and rescheduled.

More precisely, the payment of the instalments due in 2020 and 2021 – due by 28 February, 31 March, 31 May and 31 July 2021 – is considered timely and such as not to prejudice the effectiveness of the relevant facilitated settlements, if made in full and with a delay of no more than five days:

• by 31 July 2021, for instalments due on 28 February and 31 March 2020
• by 31 August 2021, for the instalment due on 31 May 2020
• by 30 September 2021, for the instalment due on 31 July 2020
• by 31 October 2021, for the instalment due on 30 November 2020;
• by 30 November 2021, for the instalment due in 2021.

Also in terms of collection, the end of the period of suspension of the terms of payment of sums deriving from payment demands and executive notices provided for by law is postponed from 30 April to 31 August 2021, as well as the final term of the suspension of the obligations of provision deriving from third-party seizures carried out by the collection agent and by the entities entrusted with the assessment and collection of local authority taxes.

 

New tax deadlines

 

Pursuant to Article 9-ter, the deadlines for payments resulting from income, IRAP and VAT returns, which expire between 30 June and 31 August 2021, are extended to 15 September 2021, without applying any 0.40% surcharge, in particular for persons carrying out economic activities for which the synthetic tax reliability indices have been approved, i.e. persons with revenues of less than €5,164,569.

The postponement also involves entities that:

• fall under causes of exclusion from the application of ISA;
• apply the flat-rate scheme;
• participate in companies, associations and enterprises that fall under the regime provided for income produced in associated form and for the option of transparency, pursuant to Articles 5, 115 and 116 TUIR.

 

Tax credit for instrumental buildings and business rentals

 

The conversion into law confirms the rental bonus and also extends it to companies engaged in retail trade with a turnover exceeding € 15 million.

The tax credit is granted on the rents paid with reference to each of the months from January 2021 to May 2021, provided that the average monthly amount of turnover and fees for the period between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 is at least 30% lower than the average monthly amount for the same period in the previous year.

The tax credit is also available in the absence of these requirements to persons who started their business on or after 1 January 2019.

 

New Sabatini

 

The refinancing of the “New Sabatini” (Article 2, paragraph 4 of Decree Law 69/2013) is confirmed for 2021: the provision is set forth in Article 11-ter, which essentially reproduces the content of Article 5 of Decree Law 99/2021. In order to speed up the grants by the Ministry for productive investments by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises provided for by the subsidised measure, it is provided that the Ministry, with reference to the applications for subsidies submitted before 1 January 2021 for which at least the first instalment of the grant has already been disbursed to the beneficiary enterprises, will proceed, according to chronological criteria, within the limits of the resources of € 425 million for 2021, to disburse in a single instalment the subsequent instalments of the contribution due, even if not expressly requested by the beneficiary enterprises, subject to the positive outcome of the administrative checks prior to payment.

 

Incentives for benefit companies

 

The deadline for taking advantage of the tax credit for the costs of setting up or transforming into a benefit company has been extended from 30 June to 31 December 2021: the novelty is provided by Article 19-bis.

The tax credit was introduced by the Relaunch Decree and has already been extended to 30 June 2021 by the Decree Proroga termini (DL 183/2020), referred to in our Infoflash no. 1 of March.

The amendment approved during the procedure clarifies that the eligible costs include notary fees, registration fees, and the costs of legal advice and assistance for the establishment or transformation into a benefit company.

The maximum amount of the tax credit that can be used for compensation is set at €10,000 for each taxpayer

 

LDP remains at your disposal for any further clarifications.